Occupancy rate of ICUs by Covid rises in Goiás and Pernambuco

After a drop in hospitalizations, Goiás and Pernambuco recorded an increase in the occupancy of ICUs (intensive care units) with severe cases of patients with Covid-19, with rates of 80% and 72%, respectively.

There was also an increase in the occupancy rate of beds in the southern states of the country, but governments do not separate which hospitalizations refer only to cases related to the coronavirus.

In the other units of the Federation, for the most part, the rate is below 50%.

In Goiás, at the beginning of May, the occupancy rate reached 50%, with 71 beds. Earlier this week, it rose to 80%, with 66 beds, according to an epidemiological bulletin.

With the increase in infections, the total number of ICU beds will rise to 116. There will also be an addition of 60 ward spaces.

In the government’s assessment, the rise in cases is seasonal, influenced by the cold weather, and the opening of vacancies is also due to the increase in requests for hospitalizations of suspected cases, which need isolation.

In Pernambuco, the occupancy rate of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) beds, including cases of Covid, is 72% in ICUs, out of a total of 808 beds. At the beginning of May, the rate was 63% — the number of beds used at the time was not reported.

The greatest pressure is on pediatric beds for patients with respiratory problems, with occupancy reaching 88% in children’s ICUs.

The Government of Pernambuco states that it has 302 beds for children with SARS, 158 in the ICU and 144 in the ward. According to the state management, the advancement of respiratory problems in children “extrapolates any planning”.

As for the occupancy rate of beds for the other age groups, the Pernambuco Health Department says, in a note, that the occupancy remains stable. The folder added that these rates are affected by the reduction in the number of beds. According to the government, “many vacancies, because of the reduction in the indicators of Covid-19, were reconverted to the care of other diseases”.

In the state of São Paulo, on May 2, 847 people with suspected or confirmed disease occupied an infirmary bed and 448 were in intensive care. In the last Monday (6), 2,416 and 1,050 patients were registered, respectively – an increase of 185% in the wards and 134% in the ICUs.

Regarding occupancy rates, on May 2, the state recorded 16.6% in wards and 20% in ICUs, against 43.1% and 45.6% currently.

“Although the total number of people hospitalized today is lower than that recorded in previous waves of contagion, the pace of new hospital admissions has been compatible with other critical moments of the pandemic”, says Wallace Casaca, coordinator of the SP Covid-19 Info Tracker platform, created by researchers from USP and Unesp with support from Fapesp to monitor the evolution of the pandemic.

In the capital of São Paulo, of the 186 ICU Covid beds, 137 were occupied last Monday (6), which corresponds to 74%. In the wards, the occupancy was lower (46%), with 144 of the 312 beds in operation.

On May 2, of the 175 Covid ICU beds, 30 were occupied (17%). In the wards, the occupancy was lower (10%), with 31 of the 296 beds in operation.

As for the moving average of new admissions in the state of São Paulo, comparing the 2nd of May and the 6th of June, the increase was 189% – from 174 to 503.

Regarding pediatric beds, the state has about 600 wards (49.4% occupancy) and 300 ICU beds (46.8% occupancy).

The folder warns that, during this period of the year, with the reduction of temperatures, it is common to increase hospitalizations for SARS in children under ten years of age.

The capital of São Paulo has 376 pediatric ward beds and 131 Intensive Care Unit beds for this population in municipal hospitals.

On June 6, 343 pediatric ward beds were occupied (91% of the total). In pediatric ICUs, there were 109 hospital beds (83% of the total).

In the South region, states have high levels of ICU occupancy, but governments do not detail which are Covid-only patients.

The cold wave that arrived early in 2022 increased the pressure on the health system, but Covid has become less of a problem in this equation compared to 2021.

Although Rio Grande do Sul ended the week with the lowest number of ICU beds available since July 7, 2021 (651 out of a universe of 2,495 beds), Covid cases (suspected and confirmed) add up to a number seven times smaller. There were 1,594 in 2021, and 230 this week.

In the state, in May, the average number of hospitalizations in clinical beds for Covid was 500 cases per day. Taking into account the first seven days of June, this average has grown to 768. The number has been above 700 since May 30th.

The index draws attention and repeats levels from the beginning of March 2022, when hospitalizations were impacted by the aftermath of summer and Carnival. But it is far from the peak of the pandemic, in March 2021, when there were 6,189 patients hospitalized for Covid in clinical beds in hospitals in Rio Grande do Sul.

In Santa Catarina, the health system is also pressured by the arrival of the cold. Of the 1,051 ICU beds by the SUS active in the state, 1,026 are occupied (98%). However, only 29 of them are occupied by Covid patients. There are 36 beds in the state reserved for Covid.

In Paraná, the rate reaches 95% of occupancy, out of a total of 1,855 ICU beds. Regarding the 6,441 beds in the adult ward, the occupancy rate was 47%.

In the Federal District, the occupancy rate of ICU beds for patients with Covid-19 in the public network is 32%. Of the 94 ICU beds in the SUS, 30 are occupied and 15 are closed.

All public ICU beds for children with coronavirus are occupied. The public network currently has ten pediatric beds for Covid-19. In May, there were 12. The occupancy rate was also at 100%.

In Rio de Janeiro, amid the growth in cases, the government is not gathering and disseminating data on bed occupancy.

The State Health Department argues that the occupancy rate was being reported by the municipalities, which stopped passing on the information when most beds were no longer exclusive to the disease. “For this reason, this data is being reviewed to be informed again”, says the folder in a note.

The secretariat says it has a staggered schedule for reversing Covid-19 beds, if there is a need for expansion. On Saturday (4), 30 infirmary beds at Hospital Estadual Dr. Ricardo Cruz were reversed for the care of cases of Covid-19. The same happened with ten other ICU beds, last Monday (6).

The number of visits to cases of flu syndrome in UPAs in the state had an increase of 5% in relation to the moving average of the last seven days. In the first week of May, there were 358 calls. In the week of May 22-28, 395.

Minas Gerais also started not to separate data on serious cases of Covid in ICUs from diseases in general. The daily number of confirmed cases of the disease in the state has grown, jumping from 210 on May 2 to 9,063 this Wednesday (8), according to data from the Health Department.

The number of deaths from the disease also increased significantly in the period, from 24 to 113.
The total number of cases under monitoring (people who are infected and who are under monitoring) more than doubled in this interval, from 70,813 on May 2 to 173,272 on Wednesday (8).

In Ceará, the occupation of vacancies is 40%, the same percentage computed in the previous month.

Of the total number of public ICU beds in the Ceará system, 24 are concentrated in the capital, Fortaleza, which has an occupancy rate of 40% — the same level as the state. That’s 12 percentage points less than the survey carried out in May.